


Escaflowne Twisted Fate

by Darkspellmaster



Category: Tenkuu no Escaflowne | The Vision of Escaflowne
Genre: F/M, Game characters playing a part, Gen, Tarot card meanings at bottom of the notes, What if Folken didn't lose his arm, movie characters moving into here, possible Folken and Hitomi romance, slight AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 15:09:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16088630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkspellmaster/pseuds/Darkspellmaster
Summary: As a child Hitomi saw a young prince being attacked by a dragon in her dream. Now at fifteen she has found herself face to face with that same man after saving his younger brother. How does the story of a girl from the Mystic moon change? How does a young King deal with a fate that has changed? And how do both confront the new fate that has been changed by a meeting in the past that neither expected?





	Escaflowne Twisted Fate

**AN: I do not own Escaflowne. All rights are held by Sunrise Entertainment, Fox Entertainment, and Bandai. I should note I'm using Tarot Cards like the series, and will have a foot note at the end to explain them.**

Morning light glittered in the grove like misty stained glass as it flowed through the trees canopies in the verdant forest that surrounded Fanelia. The summer sun radiated a sultry heat which evaporated the morning dew. Shadows thrown from the leaves high above etched strange and mystifying patterns along the grassy floor. The pristine silence, broken only by the lone cry of a native bird, wrapped the world in a state of safety and serenity. A serenity that was instantly shattered by the wild roar of a land dragon as it hurtled its lumbering dirt green body through the woods. It crashed through the smaller trees, knocked them over and sprayed its dark green blood on rocks that were in its way, the beast rampaged in a panic.

Behind the dragon, sprinting as fast as he could was a youth covered in the beast's blood. His brow was furrowed in concentration as his auburn eyes blinked trying to beat out the stinging green liquid. His blue green hair was drenched in the same horrid green, as were his clothing and armor. But he still followed; he had to finish this creature off, even if it meant his life. After all he was the one that had wounded it. Leaving it as it was would be an even crueler fate then to kill it. He swallowed, wishing that things didn't have to be like this.

"Why do you have to kill the dragon, Brother? That's mean." Words of wisdom from a five year old, the young man thought. His little brother, Van, was already spouting opinions. He was innocent, sweet, and full of life. The young man never wanted to see pain in those young eyes, and tried to shield the boy from the worst of the world. He did not want Van to share in the grief that he felt, especially not after the death of their Father.

He could remember his mother sobbing and his little brother clinging to him asking him why their father would not wake up. The boy was only two when their Father had died and the youth had been but twelve. Back then he did not understand the ways of death, or why death took who it did. Even now at the age of fifteen he did not fully comprehend the reasons behind people dying. What he did understand was that death brought about with it a sense of sadness and pain that he never wanted visited upon his younger brother. He knew also that he was going to have to take on the responsibility of the kingdom.

 _He had to_.

If he didn't then the burden would fall on his little brother's shoulders, and he hated the idea of having Van suffer that fate.

As he raced along the young man thought of the night before when he had first gone out to hunt the dragon. He recalled retching three times while wandering around. Once was due to a smell in the woods. The second was when he located where the stench had come from and he discovered the remains of a man who had gotten too close to a dragon. The other last time was due to his queasy stomach. He had laid down to rest, after the third time, and stared at the heavens. Finding a dragon was not as easy as it seemed.

The young man blinked into the night sky and stared at the stars. He reached his hand up to them and whispered, "Father….please. Help me find the strength to complete this task. I don't want Van having to deal with such things."

He closed his eyes and memories of the morning before raced back to him. His mentor and teacher, Balgus, had found him sitting on top of one of the castles roofs. He had been gazing out at the world below as it was bathed in the glow of a rising sun. The small houses of wood and stone seemed to glisten in the golden hue. The older man approached him slowly. The youth did not need to turn to see the man's face. He knew it quite well. The gray receding hair, his left eye forever shut and held tight by a long jagged scar that trailed down to his left cheek, the right had another wound that gave the man a craggy look.

"Prince Folken," Balgus's hand clapped down on his left shoulder and Folken moved to acknowledge that he knew Balgus was there.

"Yes Balgus?"

"Lord Folken, what are you doing up here?" The older man inquired as he glanced down at Folken.

Folken sighed. The man was like an uncle to him…no more like a Father. At times he despised that fact. After all he had had a father, one that he was proud of, but it was Balgus that had raised him as he had grown into a man. He shifted some and looked out over his small capital. The fires that warmed the hearths in the many homes had been extinguished and people were making their way to the center of town, concerned with the day-to-day troubles rather than the larger ones he was worried about.

"Just out here thinking."

"Of what?"

Folken shrugged, "If things are going to go as well as the council believes."

Balgus scoffed under his breath. "Highness, if you don't believe in yourself, it will make your heart uncertain. The dragons are called by your heart. The more worried and unsure you are, the more they will sense your fear and fight back. You must learn to control it."

"Control it? But how," Folken turned and looked at the man for the first time. He scowled slightly.

"Find the courage within yourself. You know you have it."

"No I don't." Folken muttered. "I…I'm just not strong enough, Balgus."

He turned his gaze to the horizon wondering if this was the only path, he could take. A distant look came over his boyish face causing him to appear much older then he truly was.

“Father…" Folken hesitated as he thought, careful how to word what he was feeling. "Father was a strong man, and he left us. What will they do if something were to happen to me? Mother and Van…They'd…they'd be all alone."

Balgus gripped the young man's shoulder and Folken glanced back up at him from his hunched over state. His stern gaze gave Folken the impression of an ancient statue that had once guarded the tomb of a great king; it suited his mighty status as a Samurai of Fanalia.

"Your fear is what causes you to have pain. Lord Folken, fight it. Fight the fear within you and cast it aside. You…and you alone can find the courage in your heart to do so. Find the thing that gives you that courage and use it. Only then can you truly find a way to defeat the uncertainty in your heart. Fight, Lord Folken. Only then can you overcome your fears."

Folken sat up and sighed deeply. The darkness still surrounded him and he rubbed his eyes with his hand, thinking,  _Fight my fears huh? But how, how do I fight something that's an instinct? You either fight or flee, and when faced with something like this, you tend to want to flee._

"Fight…" He uttered quietly and pulled his hand away remembering what he told Van. "A King of Fanelia is destined to fight…"

"Find the thing that gives me courage?" Folken sat up and stretched. "A lot of good that will do me when I don't even know what I'm looking…."

A sound from the dark gave him a start and he reached for his blade. Folken gritted his teeth and was about to give a curse when he heard a giggle. Glancing to his side the young noble man stared in wonder at a little girl of about five. Her green eyes stared back at him from under bangs of light brown hair that flipped up in the middle of her neck. Her eyes were smiling and the giggle on her lips was intoxicating. He gave a small smile, "Hey there little one. What are you doing out here in the dark? Where are your parents?"

Folken stared, giving the girl a good once over. Her clothes were unlike any he'd seen before. She had on a pink night dress, but it was made of material that he was sure wasn't made in Fanalia, and her feet were bare. She was cute, innocent, and reminded him of Van.

The girl smiled at him as he shifted to move a bit closer to her. She looked at him with wide eyes.

"Who are you?" he asked her quietly, but she just giggled at him and pointed.

"Prince."

"Ah…" Folken looked surprised, and then beamed when she laughed. He pointed to himself.

"Yes, that's right, I'm a prince, and you're in my kingdom," He knelt before her, resting an arm on one knee, "Now little girl, you shouldn't be out here. It's very dangerous."

He was reaching towards her when he heard a loud roar and turned. Worry filled his mind.  _Damn. Dragon, but how could it have found us?_

"This is no place for you to be little one," Folken was up on his feet in an instant and turned fast to grab the girl, but she had vanished. He looked around calling out. "Girl…Little girl…where are you?"

He glanced up at the sky and blinked seeing the mystic moon float overhead.  _Could…Could she have been…_ He shook his head and rubbed his eyes.

"No, that's not possible; she was just a dream and nothing more."

Early morning light bathed the forest in a deep golden yellow, making everything look magical. Folken would have liked to have lingered there longer to take in the beauty of the place, but he knew time was short.

The dragon's roar hung in the air for a moment then faded. Folken glanced back in the direction of Fanelia and held his hand over his brow so the sun did not blind him. He sheathed his sword, grabbed his shield and made sure his armor was on tight. Then he took a deep breath.

"Find the courage. Alright Folken, you heard the man. You had better find that courage and find it fast or you're dead."

Less than two hours after venturing deeper into the forests he managed to find the beast. The land dragon had been larger than he had expected it to be. Its yellow eyes glowed with a luminescence that frightened him, but he landed a solid hit on the neck with his sword. The beast howled and slashed out at him with its tail, hitting him with the muscular blunt middle of the tail, knocking the wind out of Folken and sending him crashing hard against a tree. He grunted and ducked aside just in time to avoid being decapitated by the same razor sharp end of it.

As their battle raged on, Folken barely stayed a step ahead of the monster. More than once he was taken by surprise by the dragon's attack, and had to doge to keep from being bitten by its fangs. Realizing the beast had the upper hand Folken bolted after a particularly nasty blow and ran farther into the forest with the creature following him all the way. The dragon hit him with a burst of fire as they entered a grove, throwing him down, and he lost his shield.

"Damn it!" he cursed and threw the hot useless metal aside. Now all he had was his chest plate, and arm and leg guards to protect him. He snarled, dove aside, and rolled as the dragon reared up to stomp him. He slashed its side and used the momentum to scramble up near the top of its neck slicing a deep wounding cut. That's when he was sprayed by its blood and the beast threw him off, sending him crashing into some bushes.

The dragon roared in agony and ran off. Folken felt his heart shudder at its pain.

 _Why must there always be such suffering?_  He wondered as he got up to go after it. The beast was now rampaging and injuring itself far worse. Why had he not just killed it swiftly? The beast had gotten farther ahead and Folken was worried that it would find its way out into the country side. He cursed himself for being so stupid and not finding a quicker way to dispatch of it. But Van's words haunted him. Killing the Dragon was mean. Why was that bothering him now of all times?

He sheathed his sword and hastened after the dragon as quickly as his legs would let him. Keeping his head low he took the higher path of the forest watching and listening for signs of the monster. Folken finally caught up with it hiding in a dark hallow in a large thicket. The dragon was exhausted and frightened that much he could tell, and slowly Folken tried to calm his beating heart as he faced it.

The beast stared at him, and Folken felt his heart relaxing as its eyes started to shut. He hopped it would just die without him having to actually pierce its outer hide.

"Dragon!" a young voice made Folken look behind him and he gasped to see the girl there again. Suddenly the dragon's eyes snapped open and it turned its attention on her. Folken seized her up into his arms and dove aside. The beast missed biting off his arm, but it ripped a large gash into it. Folken screamed and the girl whimpered.

He crashed to the ground and she moved out from under him. He looked into her terrified eyes and said seriously, "Run…get out of here! You'll get hurt."

The girl shuddered afraid, her eyes had a far off look that he couldn't quiet place, and then she unexpectedly gasped, "Look out!"

He lifted his head up and saw the dragon rushing towards him ready to chew off his arm. Folken rolled to dodged and realized that the beast would kill the girl if it got any closer to her. He drew it’s attention again and it leapt at him, crashing above, roaring, and blood spattering everywhere. The girl was backing up and crying seeing the fight and he clenched his jaw, even though he was trembling.

 _I have to protect her!_  He thought and, using his good arm, brought the sword up into the underside of the beast's belly as he slid away from its talons. The dragon roared and then stumbled, its guts and blood spilling over the ground. Folken breathed harshly as he watched the dragon die and walked slowly over to it when its eyes were closed. He raised the sword and made a cut in the beast’s chest right above the drag energist and gently pulled it from its body.

"Thank you," said the young prince to the dead beast as its body dissolved into ash. When it was gone he collapsed to his knees and held the energist close, nearly crying. He was going to have to tell his brother about this. The people would be talking about it for a long time, he was sure of that. He wondered if what he had done was going to make him a monster in Van's eyes. A shudder of dread passed through his body, and then he felt a small hand touch his arm and looked down to see the girl.

"Okay? It's going to be okay?" she asked him softly and he blinked some staring into her eyes nodding.

"Yes," he blinked. "Are you alright?"

She nodded and then put her arms around him. "Don't cry."

"Uh…"

He looked at her and put his non injured arm around her, hugging her.

"I won't…"

The girl smiled then. "Don’t cry, Prince?"

Folken nodded gently and wiped the dirt off her face. "I won’t cry, I’m feeling better now. And you shouldn't cry either. You're safe."

The girl nodded but still held onto him. He relaxed, just a bit, at feeling her small warm grip around his neck and was letting himself calm down, when suddenly; Folken felt her grip slip away. He blinked hard as she vanished from sight, fading away as fast as she had appeared. He sat there in shock, felt all the adrenaline rush from his body, and quickly fell to the ground passing out.

It was hours later when he awoke to find himself wrapped in warm blankets and his wounded arm being tended to. A wolf woman with graying brown hair looked at him softly.

"You're finally awake." She said gently as Folken sat up rubbing his head.

"Where…where am I?"

"The outskirts of the southern woods, Lord Folken, I am Taliga, a healer. Please rest, you have lost lots of blood."

Folken nodded and heard noise coming from outside the tent. When the flap opened Taliga furrowed her brow. "Ruhm, what did I tell you. Let the young man rest."

The fifteen year old wolf man grinned, and put his fists on his hips.

"I just came to see if he was in one piece. When we found him, he was a real mess." Ruhm said. "How are you feeling Folken?"

Folken smiled weakly. He'd known the young wolf man since childhood and was glad to see him. "Better I'll admit. By the way Ruhm, was…"

Ruhm tilted his head at him when Folken paused, "Yeah?"

Folken thought a moment. They would think he was mad, or maybe delusional, but he asked just the same.

"Was there a little girl in the woods?"

Ruhm sat down beside him, as Taliga moved aside to clean some bloody rags and mix more herbs. The wolfman blinked twice then laughed, "Even injured you still have a sense of humor Folken. That's a good thing for a king to have."

"I…I'm serious Ruhm, was there a child in the woods. Please I need to know." He looked at the wolf man in earnest, and Taliga shook her head. She thought he'd likely lost enough blood to be hallucinating. Ruhm knew better. Folken was the last person to make up stories. He slowly shook his furry head.

"No, we found no one there except for you," he motioned to the discarded shield and sword. "And you're mangled up shield. What did you do to it? Let that thing have a free range roasting?"

Folken leaned back then and looked up.  _Then what was she? A hallucination or some vision? Or maybe she was just an angel that was sent to save me?_

* * *

 

In the city of Kamakura Japan a little girl woke up from a startling dream.

"Mommy!" she cried out and her mother hurried from her room.

"Sweetheart, what's the matter?"

The woman held the child in her arms and the little girl sobbed.

"Mommy, I…I saw a prince, and he…he got hurt by…by a dragon. Mommy…I'm scared. Will the prince be okay Mommy?"

Her mother looked at her curiously, "Prince? What prince dear."

"The prince with blue hair," the little girl explained. "He was chasing a dragon. I saw him. He was covered with green stuff….and…and then the…the dragon…"

"Shhh…love shhhh, Hitomi my dear. It was only a dream," Her mother said softly but noted the strange dried green liquid on her nightgown. Just where had her child been in the middle of the night?

**Author's Note:**

> The Page of Wands has the main meaning of being a messenger from far away about a trip, career move, leadership position, or something spiritual. A trustworthy, reliable young person, with an inborn desire to bring happiness, excitement and light to those around. This person is a messenger of good news and witty gossip. A person who is faithful in service to superiors.


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